SAN DIEGO -- The first time Yasiel Puig strained a hamstring, he missed 38 games. When he suffered essentially the same injury to the other hamstring, his right, a few months later on Aug. 27, the Los Angeles Dodgers had just 36 games left in their schedule.
The math is fairly straightforward, and on Friday, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly admitted the team is uncertain whether Puig would return by the end of the regular season.
Puig traveled to Arizona on Friday to begin the lengthy process of rehabilitating his hamstring.
"We've got about a month, and Yas has been out a few days, a week maybe," Mattingly said. "If it is a month, we're pretty much right at the end of the year."
The other complicating factor is that all the Dodgers' minor league teams will have concluded their seasons by the time Puig is ready to get back into game shape, so they probably will have to rig game-like scenarios for him in Arizona.
It's possible, Mattingly said, they will send Puig straight into the heat of playoff baseball when he returns.
"We just cross those bridges as we get there," Mattingly said. "I guess it would depend on what he's able to do at that point."
The news is better on second baseman Howie Kendrick, who also is out with a strained hamstring. Kendrick has been making progress and is likely to play in minor league games in a matter of days. He could rejoin the Dodgers within a week.